TADHAMUN تـضـامـن

Tadhamun (solidarity) is an Iraqi women organization, standing by Iraqi women's struggle against sectarian politics in Iraq. Fighting for equal citizenship across ethnicities and religions, for human rights, and gender equality.

Friday, September 21, 2007

The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) has announced that US occupation forces carried out an unprovoked attack against a crew of workers in the Rumaila oilfields in Basra on the morning of Monday 18 September.

As a result of this cowardly and criminal act, Chief Engineer Talib Naji Abboud was wounded and taken to hospital where he died in the evening of Tuesday 19 September.

This comes one day after the massacre perpetrated by the Blackwater mercenary gang in Baghdad's Mansour district on Monday, in which Iraqi officials say 11 people were killed, but unofficial reports speak of up to 50 deaths, all innocent victims of all ages and both genders.

Instead of curbing and punishing the Blackwater mercenary gangs, the occupation is escalating unprovoked attacks on Iraqi citizens.The IFOU has called on the Iraqi Government to take action to protect the lives of Iraqi citizens, and the Federation held a protest rally at the Southern Oil Company headquarters in Basra today at 10am local time to condemn this premeditated murder and the continuing occupation of Iraq.In the meantime, the Minister of Oil Hussain Al-Shahristani has remained silent about the latest criminal attack directed at workers who are under his direct remit and who were ambushed while going about their normal business of running this vital industry.

Indeed, the latest attack seems to be designed to show that the occupation forces will act with impunity, and that there is going to be little distinction between mercenaries and regular US troops.

The attack in the oilfields seems also to be designed to push the Iraqi Government to take further harsh and repressive measures against the oil workers at a time when they are resisting the privatization of the industry. The murder of Chief Engineer Talib Naji Abboud should also be laid at the door of the oil corporations that are trying to force their way into Iraq and to control its resources at any cost.

We call upon the Trade Union and anti-war movements in Britain to condemn this heinous crime and send letters of protest to the Foreign Office and the US embassy.NaftanaFor

Notes for editors:Naftana (‘Our Oil’ in Arabic) is an independent UK-based committee supporting democratic trade unionism in Iraq. It works in solidarity with the IFOU. It strives to publicise the union’s struggle for Iraqi social and economic rights and its stand against the privatisation of Iraqi oil demanded by the occupying powers.For more information see the IFOU’s websiteHYPERLINK http://www.basraoilunion.org/

Protest the suffering of Iraqi Christians: No to terrorism No to state terrorism.Hands off our minorities. Hands off our people. Shame on the human rights violators on all sides. Assemble 11:30 on 28/7/14 near Parliament Square, near Westminister tube station London. For more past events click here

We women of Tadhamun condemn the persisting practice of arbitrary arrests by the Iraqi security forces. We condemn their arrests of women in lieu of their men folk. These are 'inherited' practices. We are alarmed by credible media reports of the Green Zone government’s intentions of executing hundreds of Iraqi men and women.

Disclaimer

Samarra Minrate built in 852 AD

Building of 1 500 massive police station !

From the angle of the photo, it is possible to calculate that the complex is being built at E 396388 N 3785995 (UTM Zone 38 North) or Lat. 34.209760° Long. 43.875325°, to the west of the Malwiya (Spiral Minaret), and behind the Spiral Cafe.While the point itself may not have more than Abbasid houses under the ground, it is adjacent to the palace of Sur Isa, the remains of which can be seen in the photo. While the initial construction might or might not touch the palace, accompanying activities will certainly spread over it.Sur Isa can be identified with the palace of al-Burj, built by theAbbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil, probably in 852-3 (Northedge, Historical Topography of Samarra, pp 125-127, 240). The palace is said to have cost 33 million dirhams, and was luxurious. Details are given by al-Shabushti, Kitab al-Diyarat.Samarra was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO at the end of June. The barracks could easily have been built elsewhere, off the archaeological site.--Alastair Northedge Professeur d'Art et d'Archeologie Islamiques UFR d'Art et d'ArcheologieUniversite de Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) 3, rue Michelet, 75006 Paristel. 01 53 73 71 08 telecopie : 01 53 73 71 13 Email :Alastair.Northedge@univ-paris1.fr ou anorthedge@wanadoo.fr